Deep Though Invisible
by PeanutButterBirthmark
Summary: "Takahashi Misaki was involved in a hit-and-run accident in front of the Wakare train station earlier this morning," the woman on the phone told Akihiko in a professional tone. "He was rushed into intensive care where his condition is to be stabilized. It's too early to say what the extent of the damage is I'm afraid."
1. Chapter 1

**Blanket Disclaimer: I do not own Junjou Romantica or any of its characters. It's Nakamura's sandbox, I'm just playing in it.**

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_"Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever."_

– Keri Russell

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Misaki practically leapt into the empty elevator and pummeled the Close Door button frantically. Only when the elevator finally started its smooth descent from the ridiculously high floor his landlord's penthouse was situated on down to the lobby, did he allowed himself to slump against the elevator wall and breathe out a long sigh that was equal parts relief and exasperation.

Every morning. Every freaking morning he had to deal with one overly affectionate Usami Akihiko that couldn't seem to keep his damned hands to himself.

He turned around and focused on his opaque, slightly distorted reflection in the steel wall of the elevator. Bright green eyes stared back at him and it was clear that they didn't like what they saw. Namely, a flushed youth that looked like he had just wrestled free from the grip of a giant squid. Brown hair was sticking up in every direction, his shirt was partially unbuttoned and hanging off of one shoulder, the tie he was supposed to be wearing still clenched in one hand along with the bag he had just managed to grab in his escape.

Glowering, Misaki tried to straighten himself out the best he could, deft hands quickly buttoning his shirt and tying a perfect knot in his tie through years of practice.

Ever since that incident with Ijuuin-sensei in Kyoto a few weeks ago, Usagi-san had been much quicker to pounce than usual, something Misaki hadn't thought possible. It seemed like Usagi-san was around every corner, stalking him like a great lion would a defenseless gazelle, waiting patiently for the perfect chance to strike. This morning he had gone so far as to try to get him to skip work!

Determined to stay angry, Misaki tried not to think about the way Usagi-san's arms had wrapped around his waist that morning, like it were the most natural thing in the world. Or about how the older man's warm, broad chest had pressed against his back making him immediately lean into his touch, if only for a brief second of weakness. Or about the shiver that ran up and down his spine when Usagi-san had pressed his lips against the nape of his neck softly, whispering a single word against his skin: _"Stay."_

Misaki blushed furiously at the memory. He tried not to think about it.

He shook his head in an attempt to dislodge any stray thoughts and squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself. There was still one last thing he needed to make sure of. He ran his fingers down the side of his neck, and winced when he brushed over a sensitive patch. He immediately flushed with equal parts embarrassment and indignation. He knew it! The bastard had bitten him while he tried to get away! Even without looking in a mirror he already knew that the mark left would be an angry red color.

Misaki hid his burning face in his hands and fought the urge to groan. Just the thought of having to walk around with something as mortifying as a hickey on his neck made him want to crawl into a hole and never come out.

His spirits reaching an all-time low, Misaki rummaged through his bag until he found what he was looking for at the very bottom: a small box of bandages that looked like it had seen better days. Again using the wall of the elevator as a makeshift mirror, he carefully applied a bandage over the offending red mark. It was probably still glaringly obvious what he was trying to hide but it was the best he could do.

He could practically see the look of smug understanding that was sure to appear on Isaka-san's face as soon as he laid eyes on him and it made him wilt all the more. He then pictured the satisfied smirk that he knew would appear on Usagi-san's face if he knew what Misaki was so preoccupied over and his earlier dismay quickly changed back to full-blown irritation at the thought. That bastard had probably bitten him in such an obvious place on purpose_ "to mark what was his"_ or some other bullshit.

Oh, he will definitely pay for this.

He was interrupted from his dark musings by the elevator doors opening with a cheery ding! Misaki walked down the lobby where the aged security guard named Gen gave him a stiff nod in greeting, which Misaki returned.

Misaki had never actually heard Gen speak, Gen had only ever nodded to him in greeting or given a noncommittal grunt in response to any question Misaki threw at him. The only reason Misaki even knew his name was because of the shiny brass nametag Gen always had pinned to the front of his crisp uniform. Misaki had even asked Usagi-san if he'd ever heard Gen speak, but he had answered only by lighting a cigarette and giving him an indifferent _"Who knows"_.

Thoughts returning to the cause of his earlier irritation, Misaki stalked out onto the busy street towards the train station. The bright and sunny day did nothing to lighten his mood.

Misaki glanced at his watch and had to suppress another groan. His train left in eleven minutes and if he didn't catch it he'd be late getting to Marukawa for sure. Misaki sped up to a pace that was in the range between brisk walking and outright sprinting, cursing his landlord-turned-lover's possessiveness every step of the way.

After nearly bowling over a mousy woman that had her nose stuck in a book and having to wait impatiently for a train of primary school children in bright yellow hats to cross the street, Misaki finally saw the crosswalk leading to the train station dead ahead. With a sinking feeling he noticed the light was already flashing in warning, a few seconds away from turning red. He glanced down at his watch again. Four minutes until his train left.

He really couldn't afford to wait for the light to change again.

Throwing all caution to the wind, Misaki sped up to a full-on sprint and took off across the street, willing the light to stay green for just a bit longer.

He had never even seen that car coming.

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**/Cliffhanger**

**AN:** Hello all, Peanut here. Thanks for reading my story! A bit short I know, but it's definitely gonna start picking up. I'll try my best to keep to a weekly schedule, maybe even earlier if this chapter is well received since I have chapter 2 mostly done. So please, drop me a line and review, tell me what you think! ( -∀-)ﾉ

Well, ta-ta for now! *waves lacy hankie*

**~Peanut**


	2. Chapter 2

_"I don't believe in accidents. There are only encounters in history. There are no accidents."_

– Pablo Picasso

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Usami Akihiko was currently sitting in the uncomfortable waiting room chairs at Kumajiro Hospital, staring at his clasped hands and trying desperately not to think. No matter how hard he tried however, he couldn't stop the sequence of events that had led him to this point from playing in his head like an infinite film loop.

He had been in his study earlier that morning idly outlining the plot for another BL manga that had occurred to him after his little escapade with Misaki that morning, typing away and sipping his rapidly cooling coffee. It was then that the phone started ringing downstairs. As was common for him while he was in the middle of a thought process, he ignored it completely.

Then it rung again. And again.

Thoroughly irritated by then, he had shut his laptop with a snap and gone to see who was so damned persistent.

"Usami Akihiko," he said, unable to muster the energy to care for his manners at that moment.

"Usami-san?" answered an unfamiliar female voice on the other line, sounding relieved. "Oh thank goodness I was finally able to get in touch! My name is Honda Sakura, I am calling on behalf of Kumajiro Hospital. Are you the current landlord of one Takahashi Misaki?"

Akihiko had felt his heart stand still at her last words. A thousand horrifying thoughts had flown through his mind at that moment, each worse than the last. He held the phone closer at his ear, the plastic almost creaking at the strength of his grip.

"What happened?" His tone had been urgent and demanding, but in reality it had taken everything he had not to throw the phone across the room and speed towards that hospital.

The one thing kept him glued to that receiver more than anything else however was something he had never felt before, an emotion that had coursed through his veins and had paralyzed him like poison: He was completely and utterly terrified.

He would have rushed to Misaki's side immediately, but he was terrified of what he would find when he got there.

From what felt like miles away Akihiko heard this unfamiliar woman, Honda she said her name was, continue speaking.

"Takahashi Misaki was involved in a hit-and-run accident in front of the Wakare train station earlier this morning," said Honda in a professional tone. "The motorist fled the scene before he could be apprehended, but we have reason to believe that he was inebriated."

"_MISAKI_, HOW IS_ MISAKI?_" Akihiko practically shouted into the mouthpiece, having started to pace by then, running his hand through his hair again and again in his agitation. He felt like he was going to fall apart at the seams. _Misaki..._

Honda had paused for maybe a fraction of a second, but to Akihiko it had felt like a small eternity. When she continued however, it was as if she had not heard his earlier outburst. "Takahashi-san was rushed into intensive care where his condition is to be stabilized. It's too early to say what the extent of the damage is. I'm very sorry to-"

Akihiko never found out what exactly she had been sorry for, because at that moment he had finally slammed the phone down and run out the door, not even bothering to lock it behind him.

The drive to the hospital had been a blur of sharp corners and red lights that would have had Misaki fainting in terror. He had marched up to the information desk and had scared the poor receptionist nearly to tears when she couldn't point him in the right direction fast enough.

This was how Akihiko ended up sitting in a room lit with the humming blue glow of fluorescent lights, surrounded by people who looked as tense as he felt. He desperately needed a smoke, but even if he was allowed to he didn't think he'd be able to stop his hands from shaking long enough to light the damn thing.

He didn't know how long he sat there. It could have been several minutes, several hours, or even several _days. _It all felt the same to him.

"Usami Akihiko?" called out an exhausted looking blonde man in a white coat and navy blue scrubs. Akihiko shot up immediately, at the man's side in an instant.

"How is he?" Akihiko asked immediately, searching the foreigner's face for any sign of Misaki's condition. He nearly collapsed with relief when the man's face broke into a smile.

"It wasn't easy, but we were able to stabilize Takahashi-kun's condition," said the man. His accent was a bit thick. An American, Akihiko guessed. "He had gone into shock, but we were able to get him out of danger. I'm Dr. Alfred Jones by the way." He offered his hand with another bright smile and Akihiko shook it, slightly surprised at the man's firm grip. Dr. Jones then gestured toward the

door he had walked out of and Akihiko followed close behind.

"Takahashi-kun was very lucky," Dr. Jones continued, talking as he led Akihiko down a labyrinth of empty white hallways. "The driver seemed to have been able to slow down enough to avoid causing serious injury." Dr. Jones huffed a sigh. "Even then, Takahashi-kun is still in for a rough few weeks."

"His left arm was fractured in two places so he'll have to wear a cast for a few weeks. He also fractured two ribs, which should heal fine on their own but he'll have a hard time moving around for quite some time. Lastly, he took a nasty blow to the head which we suspect might have resulted in a concussion. Now it's nothing serious," Dr. Jones stated firmly as Akihiko looked like he wanted to interrupt. "He's just gonna have one hell of a headache for a few days."

They stopped outside of a room with a brown plastic 4 on the door. Akihiko stared hard at it, wanting nothing more than to go to Misaki's side and never leave it again. The blonde doctor seemed to have noticed this and gave him another one of his ever-present smiles.

"No need to worry Usami-san. It'll be rough, but Takahashi-kun should recover just fine. He'll just need to take it easy for a few weeks. He's is resting now, but as long as you promise not to get him too excited it should be fine for you to see him."

Dr. Jones' smile faltered for a moment. "I need to warn you, he looks a lot worse than he is. It's going to take time and attention for him to heal completely, so just give him plenty of both. Now, if you need anything at all just press the call button near the bed and someone will come by."

"Thank you doctor. For everything." Akihiko said sincerely, shaking the man's hand one last time.

"No problem. It's what I'm here for, to save the day!" Dr. Jones laughed, then gave Akihiko a kind and knowing smile. "Be sure to take good care of him."

And without another word the strange doctor walked off, humming a happy tune as he went.

Not wasting another second, Akihiko turned the doorknob and stepped inside. The first thing he noticed was that his eyes were attacked with beige. Beige walls, beige ceiling, beige floor tiles, even the ugly little sofa in the corner of the room was a sickly brown color.

All of that however was driven straight out of his mind when he saw Misaki. As soon as Akihiko laid eyes on him he nearly sank to his knees.

Misaki was barely recognizable. His face was bruised and swollen, what skin that wasn't was deathly pale. One arm was indeed wrapped in a cast and held in a sling. He was hooked up to what must've been a small army of machines that hummed and beeped softly in the background. Even so, Misaki seemed to be sleeping peacefully. His chest rose and fell gently with his every breath.

He looked so small, lying in the middle of the huge hospital bed...

Not once taking his eyes off of Misaki's tranquil face, Akihiko sank into the plastic chair next to the bed. He reached for Misaki's free hand and while being mindful of all the wires, turned it slowly and bent down to give the center of Misaki's palm a feather-light kiss. He threaded his fingers with Misaki's slack ones and stared at them, trying his hardest to keep his hand steady.

It hurt. It hurt so damn much to see the one he loved so dearly so fragile and broken.

Visions of a healthy Misaki played in his head. Misaki with his bangs pinned back cutely while he made dinner with his brow furrowed in concentration, Misaki scolding him for trying to cook and only ending up destroying half the kitchen, Misaki laughing, Misaki smiling, Misaki flushed beautifully while they made love...

"Misaki," he said quietly, knowing that Misaki probably couldn't hear him. "You scared me so much today. I thought I'd lost you."

He took a shaky breath.

"Misaki, I love you. I love you so much. I promise that from now on, I'll keep you safe. No matter what it takes." As if to seal his promise, he placed another kiss on Misaki's palm and relaced their fingers, gently squeezing the small hand with his own.

Misaki squeezed back.

Akihiko's head snapped up to look at Misaki's face, hardly daring to breathe. Misaki stirred, groaning weakly and fluttering his long brown eyelashes.

"Misaki?" Akihiko whispered, leaning in closer to the waking boy.

It took Misaki a good long while before he turned his head toward Akihiko. His emerald eyes were squinted and it looked like he was having a hard time keeping them open. Even then, he gave Akihiko the tiniest of smiles.

Akihiko's whole world brightened at it.

"_Mi-!_"

"Hello," Misaki croaked, sounding politely puzzled. "Are you a friend of Nii-chan's?"

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**BOOYAH CLICHÉ PLOT DEVICE**

**AN: **Hello all, Peanut here. So here it is, earlier than expected! I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it~!

As usual please drop me a review and tell me what you think! Each review, whether it be your exact thoughts on the chapter or something as simple as _"Please update!"_ really does mean a lot to me! :D

**~Peanut**

**P.S. Cake for anyone who catches the reference! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

_"It often occurs that the real tragedies of life occur in such an intrinsic manner that they hurt us by their crude violence, their absolute incoherence, their absurd want of meaning, their entire lack of style. They affect us just as vulgarity affects us. They give us the impression of sheer brute force, and we revolt against that."_

– Oscar Wilde, _The Picture of Dorian Gray_

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Misaki's brain had been replaced with spikes that were jamming into the walls of his skull. Or was it spiders that were crawling in there? Spiky spiders? Spikers?

His whole body ached too, as if he had been thrown into a blender and someone had hit frappé. His chest hurt especially, a sharp pain stabbing it with every breath. Vaguely he also realized that not only did his left arm hurt particularly badly, he also couldn't do more than wiggle his fingers.

Misaki opened his eyes a fraction and promptly wished he hadn't. The dim light of the room bored into his retinas and into his skull, causing him to snap them closed again. Only when his brain stopped trying to beat out of his skull did he try again. After what felt like forever, he managed to keep them open to a squint. Okay, so far so good.

He squinted at the ugly brown ceiling, realizing that it was unfamiliar to him. Before that could fully sink in however, he realized for the first time that he wasn't alone. With an enormous amount of effort Misaki turned his head on his pillow to see who was at his side. He would've gasped if his chest would've let him.

There was a silver-haired stranger sitting next to him, smiling. The man seemed to be around Nii-chan's age. He was handsome Misaki supposed, but as a guy he guessed he didn't really know about that sort of thing. What really captured Misaki's attention however were the man's eyes, he had the purplest eyes Misaki had ever seen. They were so deep and clear that Misaki felt like he'd get lost in them if he didn't stop staring. His cloudy mind told him to mind his manners and greet the man.

"Hello," Misaki said, unpleasantly surprised at how much his throat felt like it had been replaced with sandpaper. "Are you a friend of Nii-chan's?"

He was confused when the man's smile disappeared and was replaced by a look that would have been more appropriate if Misaki had gotten up and suddenly punched him in the face. Afraid that he had offended the man in some way, Misaki's sluggish and aching brain scrambled to think of how to apologize. However, the man spoke first.

"Misaki," the man said, his features stony. He made Misaki jump, both by referring to him so familiarly and by squeezing his hand. Misaki hadn't even been aware the man had been holding it. "Misaki, that's not funny."

Heart leaping into his throat, Misaki snatched his hand back and tried to ignore the sharp pains the sudden movement caused to erupt all over his body. Even more, he tried to ignore the deep blush that for some reason had surged to his face along with the strange feeling of loss he had felt as soon as he had let go.

"Who–who are you? Where am I? H–how do you know my name?" Misaki croaked out. He had tried to sound threatening like those guys in spy movies always did when they were in these sorts of situations, but he probably only sounded as scared as he felt.

The look on the man's face was one of such utter heartbreak that Misaki couldn't help but feel an irrational pang of guilt for being the cause of it.

The man reached out a hand slowly, as if to touch Misaki's face. Misaki stiffened instantly, remembering what situation he was in and he put his guard up once again.

"Misaki, I..."

The man was interrupted by the door suddenly bursting open. Both of their heads snapped up, the strange atmosphere surrounding them disappearing in an instant.

"_Nii-chan?_" Misaki gasped in surprise.

Takahiro stood framed in the doorway, looking positively frantic. He was flushed and panting, as if he had run the whole way there. He took one look at a battered but very much awake Misaki and promptly burst into tears.

Shocked and now throughly confused, Misaki again tried to think of what to say only to be beaten to the punch once more.

"Mi–Misaki," he sobbed, wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his suit jacket. "They called me at work about what happened and–and I thought I had lost you too..."

"Nii-chan..." Misaki murmured. It broke his heart to see his brother break down like that, Takahiro hadn't cried this hard since that horrible day they received the news about their parents. "What happened," Misaki asked softly, "I don't..."

Misaki jumped once again when the strange man he had completely forgotten was still in the room got up and wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders. Which Takahiro _accepted._

"You know him, Nii-chan?" Misaki cast a glance at the strange man, but looked away immediately when he noticed the man was giving him an intense look that he didn't understand.

Takahiro looked confused for a second. "Of course I do! This is Usagi-san! He's–"

"Takahiro," the man interrupted gently. "He... he doesn't remember." Takahiro looked from the man to Misaki, giving them the same shocked look.

"'Re–remember?' Remember what? Who is he? Where am I? Why am I here? _What the hell is going on?_" Misaki burst out, panic squeezing his chest like a vice. His headache also only seemed to be getting worse, it pounded painfully to the beat of his heart.

"Misaki," Takahiro asked, giving Misaki an unfathomable look. "How–how old are you?"

"I'll be nineteen in August," Misaki said slowly, as if expecting it to be a trick question.

Whatever Misaki was expecting, it was nowhere near the reaction he received. Takahiro blanched and pressed his hands to his mouth as if he were going to be sick. The strange man his brother had called a rabbit sank into the chair by his bed as if his legs couldn't hold him up any longer and put his head in his hands.

There was a deafening silence, then Takahiro walked over next to Misaki's bedside and knelt down so he could look his younger brother in the eye. He shut his eyes and took a deep, quaking he opened them again he still looked pale, but also oddly resolute.

"Misaki," Takahiro said gently and grasped his younger brother's now free hand. "You were in an accident today. You hit your head pretty hard and you might have... forgotten some things." All of Takahiro's earlier bravado seemed to drain away, leaving him looking utterly miserable. "You're... you're actually 24, not 18."

Misaki's aching mind ground to a screeching halt. He felt his jaw drop but couldn't do more than gape stupidly at Takahiro.

Misaki shook his head slowly as if to dislodge what he had just heard, laughing in a way that told both men he was trying his hardest to hold back tears. "V–very funny, Nii-chan! I almost believed you for a second! I..." One look at their somber expressions and any semblance of a smile slid off his face. All the air vanished from Misaki's lungs and his mouth went very dry. "You're–you're lying. Nii-chan, you're lying! _This isn't funny!_"

Both men stared at him and it was very clear that they didn't find any of this to be funny at all. In fact, they both looked like they would never laugh again.

Misaki didn't understand. He was so confused and he didn't understand _**anything**_.

Suddenly the room felt like it was a thousand times too small and his chest was a thousand times too tight.

Misaki gripped the sheets with his one good hand so hard that he couldn't feel his fingers, gasping for air that he couldn't seem to get into his lungs. He was sick of being confused and his whole body ached and his chest was on fire and he wished the pounding in his head would just stopSTOP_**STOP**_.

He heard someone shout his name but it felt like he was underwater and they were on the shore, sinking deeper and deeper into an oppressive sea of darkness while he slowly drowned...

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***Drama Llama lurks aggressively in the background***

**AN: **Hello all, Peanut here.

Oh dear. Things have gotten more dramatic than I originally anticipated... I'll try to make happy things happen soon, I promise! D:

Well, I hoped you liked it anyway! Please drop me a review and tell me what you think, I'll try my best to answer every one as they never cease to brighten up my day! I may reply extremely late since I don't have internet at home at the moment, but I'll make sure I reply darn it!

**~Peanut**

**P.S. Good job to everyone who caught the Hetalia reference! America is my very favorite so of course I had to sneak him in somehow! XD**

**P.P.S. Everyone who catches the reference in _this_ chapter gets a blueberry muffin! :D**


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